Hartford Business Journal

28 Hartford Business Journal • June 8, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com 28 Hartford Business Journal • June 8, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com BUSINESS CHAMPIONS 2015 Cronin & Co.'s creative environment yields employee loyalty By John Stearns Special to the Hartford Business Journal F ree breakfast every Friday, fun sports tournaments, catered cookouts, holiday bonuses, an occasional movie on company time — they're they ways advertis- ing agency Cronin and Company LLC rewards employees for hard work, builds camaraderie and fuels creative inspiration. The importance the company places on motivating and car- ing for employees also includes a strong benefits package, ongo- ing professional development and community involvement. "If you think about the product that we offer, we're only as good as the people that we have here," says Kim Manning, principal and chief operating officer. "We don't make widgets; we sell ideas. And the ideas are only as smart as the folks that we have here, so maintaining and cultivating a top-tier staff is a critical success factor for our business … and we try to put a lot of emphasis behind it." Manning co-owns Cronin and Company with Steve Wolf berg, principal and chief creative officer. They have each worked at the agency for about 25 years; Manning started out as an account executive and Wolf berg a copy- writer. They eventually moved up the ladder and bought the business seven years ago. Based in Glastonbury, Cronin is the largest full-service independent agency in Connecticut, Wolfberg says. It has 70 employees locally, plus one in an Albany, N.Y., service office. The employee count has increased 40 percent over the past three years and billings 72 percent. Capitalized billings were $85 million last year. The majority of Cronin's clients are national brands, but it also has a stable of well-known regional clients. Clients stay with the company about eight years on average versus an industry average of about three years, according to Wolfberg. "We think our clients stay a long time because our employees stay a long time and I think continuity is very important and hard to come by nowadays and we work very hard at it," he says. The average tenure among Cronin's senior managers is 15-plus years and many employees have more than 15 or 20 years there, which is outstanding for advertising agencies, he says. "We think it's the environment that we create here that helps people stay," Wolfberg says. "And that's a real competi- tive weapon for us having people stay around; clients like to hear that, it helps us win clients and I think we've got some- thing special with how long we've all stayed here." That environment seeks to feed employees' inspiration, which might come from a visit to a place like Real Art Ways in Hartford. Cronin employees have been known to watch creative movies there for think-outside-the-box inspiration, Wolfberg says. "We encourage people to find inspiration anywhere they can and if it's something we didn't think of and somebody says, 'Hey, I want to go to a movie,' or, 'I want to take every- body fishing because we think it's going to be inspirational,' we'll talk about it," he says. Inspiration and education also come from national con- ferences and professional development events, which allow employees to stay abreast of the latest trends and tools in the industry. "It's really important, if we're going to be at the top of our game, to make sure that we always have an outward look, that we are a step ahead of our clients in terms of the emerging tech- nologies and opportunities that are out there," Manning says. Having fun is important, too, creating collaboration outside the office that complements the daily collaboration required in business, Wolfberg says. The company has catered cookouts to celebrate long holiday weekends. Cronin also hosts take-your-dog-to-work day and annual cookie- and chili-cooking competitions. Other perks include free breakfast each Friday, where employees volunteer to buy or make breakfast using money provided by the company. Employees receive an early-dis- missal day for their effort. Workforce practices are important, Manning says. "We are a creative business and it is a high-intensity busi- ness staffed by a lot of very, very talented and creative folks," she says. "We work hard, we like to play hard and we like to do things that really enhance our culture, that really enhance the creativity of our environment." The company also dedicates a week to what it calls Cronin Cares, where employees get a paid day off to support one of three causes the company chooses. Cronin is vetting causes for this year and taking sugges- tions from employees. n WINNER (TIE): WORKFORCE PRACTICES Cronin and Company LLC Address: 50 Nye Road, Glastonbury Top executives: Kim Manning, Principal and Chief Operating Officer; Steve Wolfberg, Principal and Chief Creative Officer Services: Advertising, public relations, interactive, social media, strategic planning, media and analytics, print and broadcast production, database/ direct marketing, and research. Year founded: 1947 Cronin & Company co-owners Kim Manning and Steve Wolfberg (left) bought the firm seven years ago and have helped build it into one of Greater Hartford's largest advertis- ing/marketing agencies. The com- pany's employees (shown above and right) get their creative inspiration from a variety of sources including visiting Hartford area arts organiza- tions like Real Art Ways. They also attend national conferences and professional development events to stay abreast of the latest industry trends and tools.

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